When we think of marriage we think of the preacher, the church, the reception, the wedding party, and even the honeymoon. We sometimes get so wrapped up in the outward appearance of things that we forget about the inward appearance. Yes the ceremony with all the trimmings is wonderful, but what about you, the woman, the wife to be, the child of God. Let us not forget that we must first submit ourselves unto God before we even think about submitting to anyone else. Let us first get our relationship with God on an intimate, personal level before we start to think of being intimate and personal with a man. To be a godly wife is to be a wife who can take the good with the bad, the high with the low. When God brings two people together, you are not brought together perfectly whole, no there are still some spots and wrinkles that need to be ironed out. And because God knew that, he understands the disagreements, and the misunderstandings. But, submission should still overpower independence. Before a woman thinks about marrying, she should evaluate her relationship to God. Are you committed to Him, are you loving, do you give admiration and adoration, do you praise and worship Him, do you open up your heart to Him and reveal you strengths and weaknesses, or do you keep it all in, straddle in you commitment to Him, love Him in good times and leave Him in bad. You see if so, then marriage is not for you just yet. In I Corinthians chapter 13 it talks about love and marriage. In verse four it describes love Godís way. It says that love suffers long, it is kind, it does not envy, is not puffed up, is not easily provoked, thinks no evil, rejoiceth in the truth instead of iniquity, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things and endures all things. What type of submissive wife are you? Do you suffer with your husband when things are not going right in your marriage and your home? When he gets a better paying job than you and gets all the perks with it do you envy him instead of praise him? When he needs you to rub his feet are you kind and not selfish. Is it all about you and your wants and your desires no matter what your husband needs or the needs of the family? If your husband is having a bad day and comes home and yells at you do you yell back or do you comfort him and tell him everything is all right? If another woman has tempted him what are your thoughts, of getting even or of helping get to the root of what the problem really is? If he has told a lie to protect you no matter how wrong, do you rejoice in the consequences of that lie, or the truth when it comes? Do you bear his burdens and sorrows, believe in his ability to prosper and succeed at anything he puts his hands to, hope for his well being and health to provide for the family, and endure the hardships of a layoff, slow time or long term sickness? What type of submissive wife are you I ask? Do you always give him love and intimacy when he needs it instead of when you want to? In I Corinthians 7:4 it says that the wife hath no power over her own body but the husband. It is his body, you are one, right, he is the head of you, or not? Donít give Satan room to grow in your marriage by having your own agenda. He is lurking around looking for a loophole where he can come in and destroy what God has put together. Stand by your man in good times and in bad. In times of plenty and times of lack. Build him up, encourage him whenever possible and remember, do what it takes to please him because in doing so, you please God. Let me end with a story about this couple that I know. They got married and knew that God had placed them together. A few months after they were married he lost his job. She was the only one working and they have a young child at home. He would find work here and there just to bring a little money into the household and get some of the pressure off of her. They found that they couldnít pay their rent and eviction notices came next. They were forced to leave the home where she once stayed with her young son. She remembered she had no money problems until he came. They found that they hadnít been to the grocery store in weeks. They were forced to move into an apartment of less value due to money. Even though it was much bigger, it was older and not kept up well. In spite of all the wife smiled and told her husband they could make it a nice home. They encountered roaches, rats, even a ratís nest in the childís room but they had to go on for it was all they had. They went many nights without heat due to the faulty old furnace that maintenance would never replace. Although the husband still had no job, she continued to love her husband and give him his due benevolence. How about you? Are you holding back due to hard times? They looked for another apartment because they were about to be evicted again. And just by the leading of the Holy Spirit her husband found a place. When they saw it the wife said, I know we will never live here, based on our credit, and money situation. Guess what? The word says that God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we may ask of think. Go God. About a week after they had filled out an application, they were called to come in to meet with the apartment manager. She told them that honestly they had no reason to live there because their credit was poor and they were an upstanding community, but because she liked them so much and felt drawn to them, she would throw away their credit report and pretend it does not exist. She told them to keep up their payments and welcome aboard. Who did that? Is that what they call supernatural favor of God?, I believe so. So they moved into the new place. Their friends started talking about them and their unfortunate trials. Making fun. People close to them started telling them that even family members had negative things to say. But when everyone saw where they were it was oh my God, how beautiful, how spacious, how I want to be here also. Thou prepared the table before my in the presence of mine enemies and I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me. The blessing was that no one knew where he or she was. God hides those things that he loves. The wife endured all of the backstabbing of others, she continued to smile even though inside she was hurting. She continued to pray for those who despitefully used her and said all manner of evil against her. Her husband even swallowed pride when it came to asking for money and even had to pawn valuable items. He had to walk alone at times because no one wanted to walk with him. Some time later they lost their car to repossession. Her husband came home one night and asked where the car was. She looked outside and said, ď I guess they came a got itĒ and went back to sleep, God can give you a peaceful sweet sleep. They went through, so what? Remember that itís not that you go through, it is how you go through. Now, look what the lord has done. He not only blessed them with a brand new apartment, they have their car back, her husband has a salaried job at Timco, and she is now getting ready for opening night of her play. If you didnít know, this woman of whom I speak is me. Wives I charge you all to be submissive to that godly man whom God has placed in your life. Walk beside him, pray for him, cover him and know when all the world has turned their backs on you, if God be for us, who can be against us. My last words areÖÖ..I will bless the Lord at all times and His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

I like this. It's a good piece, but please, break it up a bit into paragraphs. It's very hard to read in it's present form, and some will lose patience. This is a worthwhile read, just rework the format a bit. I don't want people to not read it just because it's too hard on the eyes. Good message!